I really didn’t understand why expository learning and guided discovery learning were categorized as two separate methods. Can someone help me understand the difference?
Inquiry learning related directly to Vygotsky. The book describes the teacher as a guide to push the student in the right direction during inquiry learning, which sounded very similar to scaffolding. (The process involves the four steps of formulating appropriate research questions, collecting and organizing data, analyzing data, and presenting the results). The book also describes this process as more of a continuous cycle rather than a simple set of tasks. I think this too relates directly to Vygotsky because the teacher is constantly restarting the process to push the student’s limits, much like the ZPD model.
I believe direct instruction relates to social cognitive theory because the teacher is serving as a model for the students. In a situation where the teacher has a high degree of control, the students will have plenty of time to observe the teacher, and make judgments on his or her actions. Another aspect of direct instruction is conveying high expectations for student progress, which can be done if the teacher exhibits those behaviors while in front of the class.
Expository learning and guided discovery are both cognitive learning theories, so I get how they can kind of sound the same. However, to my understanding, guided discovery is more students figuring something out via some interactive activity, like a lab. This is where the teacher is there to help you, and you have guideline, but you still need to figure out some of it yourself. In expository learning, instructors are teaching the students the necessary knowledge, but in ways that they are likely to remember. They make the information meaningful so it encodes to long-term memory. Its a very organized learning process, unlike guided discovery where the students do their own learning.
ReplyDeleteExpository learning is more the teaching of new information to a student in a way that the student can accurately remember the information down the road when needing to retrieve it. It is a very organized way of teaching and uses organizational tools, such as handouts, charts, etc to teach a certain concept. Once the student has learned the concept, the teacher will have the students practice their knowledge in different contexts in order to show that they've learned and accomplished their goal.
ReplyDeleteGuided discovery learning is when a teacher guides the students through a concept that is being taught, but the students definitely use their independent thoughts to learn the concept. It is a lot less organized and is up to the students to teach themselves to a point. The teacher gives them guidelines and the students take those guidelines and actively learn the concept through activities and experimentation. This type of teaching would probably work best with older students rather than younger children who need constant attention and direction.